When Laker fans debate Shaq's number being retired, you think they start asking why they retired James Worthy's? No, I think the Laker fan, like the real Rocket fan, has some respect for their history and legends.
Jersey retirement, frankly, can be a pretty arbitrary process. Of course, everything about a player is part of the decision-- personal performance, team success, off court contribution (good or bad), whether the guy is a douche bag, etc.-- but in the end the question is whether the owner of the team feels like doing it in light of all the facts. For example, the previous owner of the Warriors, Chris Cohan, never retired Chris Mullin's jersey. The new owner, Joe Lacob, just said he will do so next season. In the case of Yao, I can see the organization going either way and I wouldn't find either decision offensive. What I do find silly is people who act like retiring Yao's jersey somehow soils the team's tradition because the guy never simultaneously had good enough health and good enough supporting cast to go far. People who say things about "the road to hell is paved with good intentions" (whatever the hell that means in this context) as if somehow retiring a possibly unqualified jersey means the team will stop pushing for a championship.
In all honesty, Ralph Sampson and Yao had the same career path and Sampson's number is not up in the rafters.
The people who never saw or experienced Ralph Sampson will rip you for this. They don't see Ralph as a Rocket hero, they think any comparison of Yao to anyone except Hakeem or Shaq as an insult.
It's standard logic applied in many fields of life including math, law, and others. I picked what seemed to be the worst resume and compared it to Yao's. If Yao was better than the worst then Yao deserves to get in. I'm sorry this went over your head and you started ranting about the good ol' days and about how shameful it would be if us "YOFs" got our way.
I honestly have never watched Sampson play but if he was an integral part in the Rockets getting to the Finals and, from looking it up, also an All-Star, I'd think the man deserve his number retired as much as the next oft-injured All-Star center.
I agree that playoff success does not necessarily means champion and that we cannot separate playoff success from individual accomplishment. What I think Yao is missing on his resume are "#times he leads the Rockets into the second round", "#times he leads the Rockets into the western conference final", and "#times he leads the Rockets into the NBA final". It's unfortunate that Yao got injured and missed most playoff games, but I strongly believe a postseason career is what defines a player's legacy. With that said, Yao deserves to have his Jersey retired because of his work ethnic, popularity, and impact on the globalization of the franchise. He is a perfect ambassador for the Rockets. I have nothing but respect for him.
Man,I never said Yao was better defensively for the entire career than Deke. Career wise, Deke is one of the greatest defender in NBA history, Yao isn't. But Deke was getting old when he played for Rockets, Yao was getting better at defense each year at that time. Last couple years when Yao was healthy, his defensive impact on the court became bigger than Deke. What's wrong with that?
Im still a big fan of Sampson but there were major differences between the two and how they were perceived by Houston and the media. Example: there were always questions about Sampson's heart but never any questions about Yao's. Bottom line is that I think it is silly to say person "A" does not deserve the honor because person "B" did not get the same honor. Each individual should be judged on his own merit. I happen to think Elvin Hayes jersey should be hanging from the rafters but I'm not going to penalize Yao or any other player because it's not.
your wrong the guy just never was talented or good enough to get his jersey retired on any nba team. in China maybe but not the NBA. do you seriously think they should retire his jersey base on his on court performances? all he did was bringing in a bunch of cash and chinese publicity (you know it better than anyone and if they decided to retire his jersey base for that, then fine. good for you and yao ming.
Sampson's light years ahead of Yao in terms of skills.. except free throws maybe. are you kidding me Yao's more like a Bryant Reeves in my opinion. and no, the Grizzlies will not be retiring big country's jersey.. even thou he played his heart out and gave his all to that team.
He was the best center in basketball for several years and led the team to several 50 win seasons. I guess that doesn't count though.
doesn't count he never led anything because he was always on the bench. they're not even gonna retire Vince's jersey in Toronto, and Vince basically single handedly put the raptors on the map why do you think they should retire Yao's?
